Last week I decided to play it pretty safe on my re-do of Rick's lamb dish. If I have learned anything from watching Lance in the Tour de France it's simple..You don't have to win each stage. Just stay far enough in front of the pack to make a run for the podium. Rick was on fire. OMG Anita couldn't have cooked any better. You should have tasted her dishes! Hubert we know is a monster talent!

This week had a small strategy shift with quick fire. Goal is to land some safe big points. I decided to do a single larger burger for the table so the first (and only) bite the judges would take is right in the middle of the burger! On the challenge I have had some experience cooking for my on and off again vegetarian wife Eileen plus her cadre of veg/vegan/gluten free friends from SF. I never thought that would come in handy until now. I have to give that win to her as SHE is the one who showed me what all these wheat free pastas are all about. Without her wisdom I would have been at a huge deficit.

Dale? As you could see from the promo of next weeks show he takes my fridge and then gets in my face about it. Hopefully I will have learned something since my rough and tumble country boy days. We'll see.

Most proud? Thrilled to have won last night's show. Mainly because it means Clinic Ole gets another $10K!. WOW what a huge win for them. I am honored to be helping such a wonderful and needed operation.

Stay tuned for more and go to my Facebook page for more regular updates.

Game on!

-Michael